Former United boss Ferguson said: “I remember Rob starting at the club – he was a very keen young man and always very focused on trying to improve himself and learn more.

“I was very lucky in that I had a lot of loyal people working for me during my time at the club, people like Rob, Les Kershaw, Dave Bushell, Jimmy Ryan, Paul McGuinness – they all worked for me for 20 to 25 years.

"I had wonderful loyalty from Rob. He’s a good person and a lovely man. I never had one issue with him in all the time he was with me. He’s obviously looked at his career now and wants to spend more time with his family.

“A lot of people in in the game can get carried away with the celebrity status within it and of course we’ve had some fantastic stars at our club but it never affected staff like Rob.

"They’ve always helped the players keep their feet on the ground and that’s credit to the kind of club we are. I worked with Rob for such a long time and I’m very proud of the job he did. He served the club so well and I wish him all the very best for the future.”

Action Images

Key figure: Swire (right) alongside David Moyes at training last season

United assistant boss Ryan Giggs also paid tribute to Swire and said: “Rob has been a great servant to the club and has been here for as long as I can remember. He has always taken great pride in his work and is a true professional.

"I would like to thank him for all his help and guidance over the years and for being instrumental in keeping me in the game for so long. He has worked tirelessly for the benefit of the team and has barely had a day off since he joined."

Swire said: “It wasn’t easy, it was a big decision.I’d been thinking about it for a year or more, working out when it would be right to retire.

"I’ve been doing the job for a long time and the hours mean you’re working all the time, including weekends and evenings, and travelling a lot and that isn’t easy when you have a family at home.

“It’s been a fantastic job, a brilliant job, I couldn’t have wanted anything better, but after 23 years at United , and the best of 30 years in total of working pretty much seven days a week, I couldn’t keep doing it forever. I had to decide at some point when to stop and now’s the time."

Take a look back at when Swire got promoted to head physio - after the 1999 Champions League final: